30 Guyanese youths commence community development training

The training component of the Local Government and Regional Development Ministry and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), Youth Empowerment and Inclusion and Reconciliation Project (YEIRP) began on Friday at the Cheddi Jagan Research Centre, Kingston.

Thirty youth leaders drawn from Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and Ten, will be trained to play a role in the development of their communities and the country
The session was opened by Local Government and Regional Development Minister Ganga Persaud and witnessed by United Nations Deputy Resident Representative Chisa Mikami and YEIRP Project Coordinator Vikram Bharrat.
They outlined the concept of the programme and the expected outcomes, especially as they relate to influencing changes in youths across the country.
“One of our leading expectations… is to have 30 persons, who are energised, who are equipped, who are competent, and efficient and who are dedicated and committed to giving of their best to their fellow young people… and we will guide and mould these young people in taking up a part that is more building, more constructive, less destructive and less disunited,” Minister Persaud said.
The YEIRP is aimed at addressing the challenges of inadequate youth participation in local governance by providing training to develop the capacity of the youths to become protagonists for good social and governance practices and to participate in local governance.
Minister Persaud reminded the youths of how the training will position them to become instruments of change for the better of their communities and the country at large.
“You are positioned to, as of now, add to your armoury of leadership skills, your repertoire of people skills, your strategies in interacting and engaging your fellow mankind in your respective communities,” he said.
Government, he stated, is grateful for the continued support from the UNDP for such programmes and initiatives for the empowerment and betterment of Guyanese.
“The UNDP country office has always sought to play a major role in assisting Guyana in implementing our developmental agenda and particularly in the areas of capacity building, empowerment, reconciliation, conflict resolution … the government of Guyana is extremely grateful for the timely and consistent intervention made by the UNDP in our country,” he said.
The Local Government and Regional Development Ministry has benefited immensely from this support.
Mikami said that UNDP is excited about the possibility that can come from the project and it is expected that over time, ministers, prime ministers and presidents will come from the youths being trained under the programme.
She also said that the timing of the programme is opportune, given that the country is currently engaged in conversation about local governance.
Mikami said that the programme will address the perceived marginalised and increasingly at-risk, for unemployment and/or underemployment, crime or violence, teen or unplanned pregnancy and other social and economic ills affecting youths. She urged the youth leaders to use skills gained, and lessons learnt to “further development in your communities through active participation through the local, regional and national government process”.
The training would commence immediately after the opening ceremony, and would continue until May, Bharrat said. Following this, the participants will be placed into selected local government entities and will then be tasked with carrying out a community project, “that is supposed to enhance the lives of people living within the community, especially the youths”.